WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.580 1974, five people died, 65 were injured in two IRA bombings, two pubs in Guildford in England. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:20.080 And when that happened, the public was outraged, innocent people died, the British police, 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:25.000 they were desperate to arrest someone for it. And it wasn't long before they, in fact, 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:31.839 quite quickly, they arrested quite a small time Belfast criminal by the name of Jerry Conlon. 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:39.980 And he was one of four people arrested for those crimes. They became known as the Guildford Four. 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:46.500 The police also arrested amongst the four was not just Jerry, but Jerry's dad, Giuseppe, 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:53.719 for conspiring in the bombing. And with all their investigations that took place, 00:00:53.719 --> 00:01:01.460 it turns out the police actually had no evidence at all to suggest that Giuseppe, or in fact, 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:10.560 the Guildford Four were guilty for the bombings. In fact, they received evidence to show exact 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:16.680 opposite, and especially for Giuseppe, that he was clearly innocent. He was nowhere near it at the 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:22.599 time and had nothing to do with it. In spite of that, Giuseppe Conlon was sentenced to 12 years 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:28.859 in prison. Even though the authorities knew he was innocent, his son, Jerry, was sentenced to life 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:33.919 imprisonment. There's a movie called In the Name of the Father that you can get about this. 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:42.079 Jerry Conlon was released after 15 years and went on to write a book about his innocence and his 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:49.119 eventual vindication. Giuseppe Conlon, however, his dad died in prison, an innocent man. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:56.439 It's another one of those stories that you hear in history. Innocent people being condemned for crimes 00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:01.840 that they didn't commit. It's a miscarriage of justice. And as we come to Good Friday, 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:07.640 and as we hear the story read to us, we go, here's just another one of those stories, 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:13.319 the innocence of Jesus. He's just another innocent guy, the wrong time, the wrong place, 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:20.620 said some things that got him into a lot of trouble, and he just died. Jesus was utterly 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:30.459 innocent in his suffering. He's not just innocent, as Pilate himself revealed, not just innocent for 00:02:30.459 --> 00:02:39.159 the charge of blasphemy, but he's in fact innocent of all sin. One of his closest disciples said this 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:48.539 about Jesus, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Now what's remarkable 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:53.300 about that statement? On one hand, you might be saying he's a mate, he's trying to, you know, 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:59.120 he's saying good things about him. But you and I both know that the closer you get to an individual 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:09.240 relationally, the more you see their flaws, the more you see their failings, the more you live with 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:14.879 someone and spend time with someone, their faults come to the surface. The people that we elevate as 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:20.599 heroes in our lives, you get close to them and you realize they're like everyone else. They put their 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:30.599 trousers on one leg at a time. They're no different. But not with Jesus. The closer you get to him, 00:03:30.699 --> 00:03:38.199 the more you see his innocence. He was sinless. Those closest to him could find no fault with him. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:49.500 Pilate couldn't find fault with him. In fact, Jesus is one of two people in history who in their own time 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:56.419 people wondered not just who they were, but what they were because of their quality of life. 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:05.219 Buddha was the other one. And so the most important question of the past 2000 years, 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:18.879 which is just as important now in the 21st century, is why did Jesus die? Why did he come and why did he die? 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:28.939 There still is controversy around which humans are responsible for the death of Jesus. That goes on. 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.779 But the reality is that's a marginal issue. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:42.240 The central issue around Jesus' death is not the cause of it, but the meaning of it. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:52.280 Importantly, the Bible tells us, in fact, that Jesus chose to die. His heavenly father ordained it and he embraced it. 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:59.840 We see that in the text before us today. Jesus was in total control. He says to Pilate, 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:07.100 you have no power over me unless it was given to you. And you see on the cross, Jesus was in total control. 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:15.300 He breathed his last and he surrendered his life to death. He literally gave it up. 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:26.379 One of the most stunning statements Jesus ever made about his own death and resurrection is just a few chapters earlier in John's gospel. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:29.040 John chapter 10, verse 17 and 18. He says, 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:38.040 I lay down my life that I might take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.960 I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up. 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:45.120 He's in total control. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:53.879 Human beings might have had multitude of reasons for wanting Jesus out of the way. 00:05:55.399 --> 00:06:05.160 But only a good God can design it for the good of the entire human race, including, as we've just sung, those who put him on the cross. 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:19.080 God's full purpose for the entire world in the death of Jesus are really incomprehensible, but they are good. 00:06:19.880 --> 00:06:23.300 His death has been powerful in its ongoing impact. 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:33.520 You see, Jesus was really a peasant nobody convicted, condemned as a pretender for the throne to Rome, throne of Rome. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:48.319 And yet, in the following three centuries from his execution, his death unleashed a power to suffer and to love, which in fact transformed the Roman Empire. 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:56.759 And to this day is influencing and reshaping people and communities and nations and cultures right across the globe. 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:04.360 East, West, rich, poor, intellectual young children have embraced and been transformed by this Jesus. 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.039 And continue to be transformed by this Jesus. 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:19.199 But Jesus' death was also unique because he was more than just a mere human. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.839 Not less, but more than. 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:32.079 And this is the testimony of those who knew him and were inspired by him to explain who he was. 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:37.319 For instance, at the very beginning of this biography on Jesus' life in John's gospel that we're looking at this morning, 00:07:38.239 --> 00:07:41.839 John calls Jesus the word, 00:07:43.239 --> 00:07:47.979 which has massive implications in the Greek culture. 00:07:49.479 --> 00:07:50.799 Divine being. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:53.300 And it says, 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:53.319 And it says, 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:55.680 At the very beginning of John's gospel, 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:57.900 In the beginning was the word, 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:00.800 and the word was with God, 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.699 and the word was God, 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:05.379 and the word, 00:08:05.840 --> 00:08:07.240 this God, 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.800 became flesh and dwelt amongst us. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.540 So the crucial question, 00:08:14.960 --> 00:08:16.720 all these years later, 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:19.079 is why did Jesus, 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:21.199 God himself, 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:23.120 not just come, 00:08:24.340 --> 00:08:25.780 but in coming, 00:08:26.280 --> 00:08:27.300 chose to die? 00:08:27.400 --> 00:08:30.620 Why did the eternal choose to die? 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:33.539 What is the purpose of it? 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:34.879 What's the meaning of it? 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.299 What did Jesus achieve by his death? 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:44.279 What is it that Jesus is offering to each one of us on this Easter in 2019, 00:08:44.719 --> 00:08:46.139 some 2000 years later? 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:51.099 And so there's two things that I want to kind of focus on for the rest of our time together this morning. 00:08:51.479 --> 00:08:51.899 Firstly, 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:55.000 the nature of Jesus' offer to us. 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:56.059 That's the first thing, 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:58.439 the nature of his offer to us. 00:08:58.699 --> 00:08:59.740 And secondly, 00:09:00.079 --> 00:09:02.079 how do we take up that offer? 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.120 So firstly, 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:03.680 the nature. 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:05.840 Verse 28, 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.080 John 19, 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:09.920 if you've got your Bibles in front of you, 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:10.560 verse 28, 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:11.860 it says, 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:13.060 Later, 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:17.400 knowing that everything had now been finished, 00:09:18.020 --> 00:09:20.080 and so that scripture would be fulfilled, 00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:22.360 Jesus said, 00:09:22.900 --> 00:09:24.420 I am thirsty. 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:26.980 I am thirsty. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:29.340 Now our first reaction to that, 00:09:29.400 --> 00:09:30.759 you just read straight through that, 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.799 and you don't kind of focus on it a whole lot, 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:33.939 our first reaction to that is, 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:34.120 well, 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:35.019 of course he's thirsty. 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:40.120 He's been crucified under the Middle Eastern sun. 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:41.679 So of course he's thirsty. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.000 He's been losing lots of fluid. 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:44.600 So of course he's thirsty. 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:52.799 One of the things that people died from when being crucified was in fact dehydration. 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:54.860 All the loss of fluids. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.519 And from what I understand, 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:00.700 dehydration is a horrible death. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:12.639 I've heard that to die of dehydration is like the pain involved of getting your hand and putting it on a hot stove. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.840 You know the pain you feel with a burn, 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:18.039 but on the inside. 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:20.439 That's what dehydration is like, 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.600 to die from dehydration. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.019 It's burning up inside. 00:10:24.019 --> 00:10:27.419 It's like you've swallowed a fire. 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:31.939 And so you go, 00:10:32.079 --> 00:10:32.199 cool, 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:33.039 of course he's thirsty. 00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:36.960 But if you linger over these words a bit, 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:41.579 you start to realize it's a little bit weird that it gets mentioned here. 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:46.139 And so it's possible that Jesus is making a significant point. 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:48.180 You see, 00:10:48.680 --> 00:10:50.540 let me just clarify something here. 00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:54.980 Jesus has suffered an awful lot up to this point. 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:56.340 A lot. 00:10:56.340 --> 00:11:02.460 He's had soldiers smash him in the face and say, 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:03.100 prophesy. 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:10.340 He's been lashed to a post and whipped 39 times. 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:14.519 His back would have looked like a piece of raw steak. 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:21.840 He's had tent pegs driven through his hands and his feet. 00:11:22.819 --> 00:11:28.860 He's had this crown of thorns squeezed onto his head. 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:31.819 And he accepted it. 00:11:32.939 --> 00:11:34.620 He endured all of that, 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:36.100 all of that pain, 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:37.360 all of that suffering. 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:40.120 He submitted to it. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.480 And we don't even up to this point, 00:11:43.579 --> 00:11:44.319 even get up. 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:45.399 Oh, 00:11:45.439 --> 00:11:45.939 that hurt. 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:48.100 Oh man, 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:48.939 that, 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:51.120 that really hurt. 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:52.840 Not even a whimper. 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:56.379 And now, 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:57.360 all of a sudden, 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:00.059 having endured all of that, 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:00.819 he goes, 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:02.259 I'm thirsty. 00:12:04.199 --> 00:12:04.759 Why 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:07.399 complain about thirst? 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:14.220 That's because something more than physical thirst is going on here. 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:15.679 Certainly he was thirsty. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:21.899 But something much deeper is going on here that Jesus is attempting to highlight for us. 00:12:22.579 --> 00:12:23.840 Earlier in John's gospel, 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:25.299 which was just read out to us as well, 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:26.379 John chapter four, 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:30.500 we read that Jesus encounters a woman at a well. 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:32.600 She's a Samaritan woman, 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:35.320 mortal enemy of Jewish people in the first century. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:37.179 She's a woman, 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:38.759 as the text tells us, 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:41.559 been looking for love and security in all the wrong places. 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:44.919 And she's surprised that Jesus comes to her and says, 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:45.559 give me a drink. 00:12:46.579 --> 00:12:47.459 In other words, 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:48.279 Jesus says, 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:48.959 I'm thirsty. 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:49.619 Give me a drink. 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:53.259 And then Jesus says to her, 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.240 everyone who drinks this water, 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.379 the water that you're about to draw out of the well with your bucket, 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:01.980 will be thirsty again. 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:06.580 But whoever drinks the water that I give them, 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:08.500 will never thirst. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:09.600 Indeed, 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:13.299 the water I give them will become in them a spring of water, 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:15.379 welling up to eternal life. 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:17.279 You see, 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:18.039 in the Bible, 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:27.159 thirst is a metaphor for the spiritual emptiness that comes when God's not the center of your life. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.200 It's one thing to believe that God exists, 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:41.679 but it's quite another thing for him to be the central reality of your life. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.599 Even this woman at the well believes in God. 00:13:47.579 --> 00:13:48.379 For instance, 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:49.959 in Psalm 42, 00:13:50.459 --> 00:13:51.199 we read this, 00:13:51.359 --> 00:13:54.199 as the deer pants for streams of water, 00:13:54.739 --> 00:13:56.599 so my soul pants for you, 00:13:56.739 --> 00:13:57.479 my God. 00:13:57.859 --> 00:13:59.699 My soul thirsts for God, 00:13:59.839 --> 00:14:00.939 for the living God. 00:14:01.439 --> 00:14:04.139 Where can I go and meet with God? 00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:09.559 So it's not belief, 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.460 mere intellectual assent in God that our soul needs, 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.039 as much as it is in meeting God, 00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:17.860 knowing God, 00:14:17.980 --> 00:14:19.059 experiencing God. 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:20.059 Without meeting, 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:20.319 knowing, 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:21.559 experiencing God, 00:14:21.699 --> 00:14:25.519 without him being the central reality of our lives, 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.220 the Bible says we die of thirst. 00:14:30.319 --> 00:14:31.279 We die, 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:32.600 spiritually. 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.759 We can believe in God, 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:38.740 but have something else as the central reality of our lives. 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:39.899 These other things, 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:40.899 they might be success, 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:41.360 approval, 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:41.860 comfort, 00:14:42.060 --> 00:14:42.399 friendship, 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:43.340 family, 00:14:43.540 --> 00:14:43.759 sex, 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:44.399 romance, 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:45.279 influence, 00:14:45.420 --> 00:14:45.940 or money, 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:48.000 or a multitude of other things, 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:49.180 are actually, 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:50.980 are the actual drink, 00:14:51.040 --> 00:14:51.360 if you like, 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:57.519 that we are pouring into our souls to quench the thirst that we constantly feel on the inside. 00:14:57.920 --> 00:14:59.060 Give me satisfaction, 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:00.139 give me approval, 00:15:00.420 --> 00:15:00.980 more of it, 00:15:01.040 --> 00:15:01.440 more of it, 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.020 more of it in the hope that we will never thirst again. 00:15:07.560 --> 00:15:14.380 And what Jesus is saying is that if you attempt to quench the thirst of your soul with anything else, 00:15:14.380 --> 00:15:17.820 other than the love and the beauty and the comfort of God in Jesus Christ, 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:19.700 then you will thirst again, 00:15:20.040 --> 00:15:21.000 and again, 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:22.260 and again, 00:15:22.260 --> 00:15:23.260 and again, 00:15:23.260 --> 00:15:23.680 and again, 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:24.879 and again, 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:25.520 fuera. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:32.360 And when Jesus is talking to the woman, 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:35.800 as she's drawing the water at the well in John 4, 00:15:36.040 --> 00:15:36.780 he says, 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:39.379 the water that I give them, 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:44.220 the water that I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:45.539 You will never thirst again. 00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:50.919 And the Samaritan woman says, 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.279 yes, 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.579 give me some of that water. 00:15:56.979 --> 00:15:58.779 This stuff's better than Powerade. 00:15:59.019 --> 00:15:59.199 You know, 00:15:59.219 --> 00:15:59.360 like, 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:00.179 give it to me. 00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:04.759 I don't want to get thirsty ever again. 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:08.459 I don't want to keep coming to draw from this water consistently. 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:09.759 Give it to me. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:11.779 And then Jesus says, 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:16.819 immediately in response to her wanting to take up this offer, 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:17.860 says, 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:18.860 go and get your husband. 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:24.340 Well, 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:24.740 actually, 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:25.159 Jesus, 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:25.840 I, 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:27.819 I don't have a husband. 00:16:29.779 --> 00:16:30.299 He says, 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:30.759 you're right. 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:33.960 When you say that you have no husband, 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:35.759 the fact is you have had five husbands, 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.139 and the man you're currently with is not your husband. 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:40.799 And when you first read that, 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:43.679 she goes from being really keen to get this living water of Jesus, 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:44.220 and all of a sudden, 00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:44.480 Jesus, 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:45.179 go and get your husband. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:46.480 It's like, 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:49.340 what are you doing here, 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:49.639 Jesus? 00:16:50.199 --> 00:16:50.519 I mean, 00:16:50.539 --> 00:16:51.340 this is an opportunity. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.319 Get her to bow and pray the prayer and ask you into her heart. 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:55.939 What are you doing here? 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.399 This woman is talking about really important spiritual stuff. 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:03.460 She wants to take up the offer of eternal life. 00:17:03.659 --> 00:17:06.539 He changes the subjects and brings up her brokenness, 00:17:06.539 --> 00:17:07.240 her mess. 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:11.660 Why change the subject, 00:17:11.860 --> 00:17:12.060 Jesus? 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:13.420 Why be so harsh here? 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:16.860 But in actual fact, 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:18.259 he isn't changing the subject. 00:17:19.020 --> 00:17:21.580 And he's in fact being incredibly tender to her. 00:17:22.660 --> 00:17:34.160 He's pointing out to her that all her messed up love life is simply a result of looking for men to give her what only God can give her. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:41.820 The reason her life is going so poorly is because when you look to someone, 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.620 to something other than God for your life, 00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:46.800 for your love, 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:47.720 for your significance, 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:48.519 for your meaning, 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:49.400 for your hope, 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.120 you will simply thirst again. 00:17:51.120 --> 00:17:54.820 You will simply thirst again because it will never satisfy. 00:17:54.819 --> 00:18:09.659 And anyone who continues to do it continues to look to everywhere else except God will thirst eternally. 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:17.180 What she needed was God to be the living reality of her life. 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:19.880 The center of her life. 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:25.580 She needed to have the love of God at the center of her life so that she didn't need, 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:25.920 in fact, 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:29.900 to look to the love of men to give her what only God can give her. 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:37.720 So Jesus was not so much confronting her as he was lovingly convicting her. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:44.220 She hasn't been living with God as a central reality of her life, 00:18:44.580 --> 00:18:48.400 even though she claims to be a believer. 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:53.400 She has a belief in God. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.240 And Jesus is saying here, 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:56.140 it's not enough. 00:18:56.140 --> 00:19:03.380 God was at the center of her life and Jesus helped her to see it. 00:19:05.560 --> 00:19:06.980 Helped her to see that other things, 00:19:07.080 --> 00:19:07.300 in fact, 00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:08.320 were more important to her. 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:12.540 Earlier in John's gospel, 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:15.440 when people got close to Jesus, 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:19.200 what we see is they immediately fell to the ground in his presence. 00:19:20.340 --> 00:19:24.980 They discovered that they could not stand in the presence of perfection and greatness and holiness. 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:31.660 When we think that we can do that on our own terms, 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:36.360 it's simply because we have no idea of his splendor 00:19:36.360 --> 00:19:40.240 and we have no idea of our actual brokenness and sin. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:50.920 So how is it possible that you and I can meet and stand before God, 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:53.240 who is holy and perfect and glorious? 00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:57.539 Well, this is the reason why Jesus was thirsty. 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:05.099 His thirst is a picture of what's actually happening on the cross. 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:08.240 On the cross, 00:20:08.379 --> 00:20:12.839 Jesus Christ is experiencing the ultimate thirst. 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:16.899 He is experiencing, if you like, 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.439 the everlasting burnings. 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:24.159 The prophet Nahum in the Old Testament puts it like this. 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:27.919 Who can withstand his indignation? 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:28.799 Talking about God. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:32.799 Who can endure his fierce anger? 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:36.639 His wrath is poured out like fire. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.079 And on the cross, 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:46.919 Jesus was getting what the whole human race deserved for its evil 00:20:46.919 --> 00:20:51.079 in putting everything else but God at the center of their lives. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.839 He was getting what we deserve for our sins. 00:20:54.139 --> 00:20:55.879 He was experiencing the divine justice. 00:20:55.880 --> 00:21:00.560 It was like a million suns burning down on him. 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:06.700 He is thirsting so that we can have the living water. 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:09.100 He is dying of spiritual thirst. 00:21:09.340 --> 00:21:12.840 He is experiencing the agony of eternity without God, 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:14.580 being separated from God, 00:21:14.780 --> 00:21:16.240 the fountain of living water, 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.880 so that we can have the fountain of eternal life giving water. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:27.940 Jesus experienced the agony of separation from the love of his father, 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:31.660 the experience of the fire of his judgment and anger, 00:21:31.860 --> 00:21:34.100 so that we can experience his presence, 00:21:34.360 --> 00:21:35.160 his love, 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:37.900 and the never-ending refreshment of water, 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:39.340 of eternal life. 00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:48.319 He got what we deserve so that we can get what he deserves. 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:53.539 He suffered so that we can have a river of life welling up in us, 00:21:53.659 --> 00:21:54.859 which is his favor, 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:55.919 his love, 00:21:56.159 --> 00:21:56.859 his approval, 00:21:57.179 --> 00:21:57.879 his acceptance. 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:00.819 And every single one of us needs that. 00:22:00.819 --> 00:22:04.599 Every single one of us has approval and acceptance issues. 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:06.759 Dropped on our head as a baby, 00:22:06.879 --> 00:22:09.000 not raised by the parents in the right kind of way. 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:11.220 Every single one of us has got issues with that. 00:22:12.139 --> 00:22:14.299 And Jesus offers it unconditionally. 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:17.700 That is the nature of his offer to us. 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:19.720 So secondly, 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:20.599 how do we take it up? 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.119 Last thing that Jesus says here, 00:22:23.379 --> 00:22:23.799 so he says, 00:22:23.939 --> 00:22:24.480 I'm thirsty. 00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:25.859 Next thing he says is, 00:22:26.399 --> 00:22:27.679 it is finished. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.160 As he breathes his last in verse 30. 00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:33.140 Jesus is using a word there, 00:22:33.860 --> 00:22:38.759 that in the original language means totally paid. 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:40.920 Totally paid. 00:22:41.600 --> 00:22:46.980 It's a word that you would write across an account in the first century. 00:22:47.580 --> 00:22:48.440 Like a stamp, 00:22:48.560 --> 00:22:49.220 paid in full. 00:22:49.460 --> 00:22:50.080 Tetelestite, 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:51.299 paid in full. 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:57.100 One of the wonderful and great paradoxes of history, 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:00.019 is that here, 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:02.340 is the helpless, 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:04.660 powerless, 00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:09.060 dependent Jesus on the cross. 00:23:10.060 --> 00:23:12.900 And his last word on the cross. 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:14.820 I did it. 00:23:16.360 --> 00:23:17.560 I did it. 00:23:17.980 --> 00:23:19.160 I triumphed. 00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:20.380 I've accomplished it. 00:23:20.380 --> 00:23:23.400 And what he has accomplished, 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:26.100 is described for us a little bit later in the New Testament. 00:23:26.540 --> 00:23:28.960 Christ also suffered once for sins, 00:23:29.300 --> 00:23:31.300 the righteous for the unrighteous, 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:32.940 to bring you to God. 00:23:35.760 --> 00:23:36.280 See, 00:23:36.360 --> 00:23:39.480 there is this infinite chasm between us and God. 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:42.780 Infinite chasm, 00:23:42.860 --> 00:23:45.420 because we have not put him at the center of our lives. 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:48.759 And Jesus has done everything required. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.640 Paid every debt that we owe to God. 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:55.340 Dealt with every sin of shame and guilt and sin. 00:23:55.580 --> 00:23:57.140 And he's accomplished it all. 00:23:57.400 --> 00:23:58.300 And he says on the cross, 00:23:58.400 --> 00:23:59.240 I've done it. 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:01.259 It's finished. 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:08.240 Nothing more needs to be done to bridge the gap between us and God. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:17.779 I mentioned Buddha early in this message. 00:24:18.620 --> 00:24:22.920 So contrast Jesus' last words with the last words of Buddha. 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:24.380 Jesus, 00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:26.640 it is finished. 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:28.779 The last words of Buddha, 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:32.279 strive without ceasing. 00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:40.160 There is a lot of admirable things about Buddhism, 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:43.420 like the self-denial and the recognition that selfishness 00:24:43.420 --> 00:24:46.299 is in fact a big problem of human humanity. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.019 But if you know anything about the eightfold path of Buddhism, 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:55.119 then you would know that it is incredibly hard, 00:24:56.019 --> 00:24:57.119 incredibly demanding, 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.720 and you never know if you've ever arrived. 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:06.539 And that's why his last words was, 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:07.859 strive without ceasing. 00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:08.720 Never give up. 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:09.680 Keep striving. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.480 Keep striving. 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:12.019 If you want to achieve enlightenment, 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:13.420 you've got to keep striving. 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:14.119 Keep striving. 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:14.859 Keep striving. 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:16.660 And Jesus' last words is, 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:17.799 I've done it all for you. 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:20.099 I've done all the striving. 00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:24.240 I've done everything you need to bring you to salvation. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.879 Religion is where we give God a performance 00:25:27.879 --> 00:25:30.259 and in the hope that God blesses us. 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:32.339 And the core message of Christianity, 00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:33.440 the core message of Easter, 00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:35.079 the core great news, 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:35.660 if you like, 00:25:35.779 --> 00:25:37.019 which is why it's called Good Friday, 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:37.379 by the way. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:38.500 The great news, 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.000 the gospel news of Easter 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:45.119 is that in Jesus Christ, 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:48.680 he's done everything. 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:53.440 And we live to love and to serve him, 00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.200 the one who has already given us the love 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.060 and the acceptance and the approval and the blessing. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:00.320 Jesus says it's done. 00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:07.940 Any effort on our behalf to attempt to make his finished work better 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:11.840 actually makes his finished work worse. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.179 takes away from it. 00:26:16.119 --> 00:26:17.519 Any effort at all, 00:26:17.879 --> 00:26:19.859 any striving at all, 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:22.240 takes away from it. 00:26:23.959 --> 00:26:25.500 So when Jesus says here, 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:26.419 it is finished, 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:28.099 what he actually means is, 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:29.939 it is finished. 00:26:32.139 --> 00:26:34.379 We cannot receive his salvation 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:37.860 and act as if we can add to it 00:26:37.860 --> 00:26:38.880 in some kind of way. 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:42.560 And there are two kinds of people 00:26:42.560 --> 00:26:45.180 who attempt to add to his finished work. 00:26:46.620 --> 00:26:48.140 One kind of person 00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:50.800 is the beat myself up person. 00:26:51.760 --> 00:26:54.780 The other is the prove myself person. 00:26:54.779 --> 00:26:58.000 There are the self-beaters 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.119 and the self-provers. 00:27:00.139 --> 00:27:01.039 The self-beater 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:03.139 is the one where every time 00:27:03.139 --> 00:27:04.960 someone criticizes them, 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:06.220 they are devastated 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:07.879 and they beat themselves up. 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:10.980 Every time you do something wrong, 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:12.139 you make a mistake, 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:13.339 you beat yourself up. 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:13.940 In fact, 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:15.460 you did something 15 years ago 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:17.200 and you still can't get over it. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:20.460 You always feel bad about everything. 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:24.740 You need to know 00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:26.779 on this Good Friday 00:27:26.779 --> 00:27:29.140 that Jesus was beaten up for you. 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:32.359 Was it not good enough for you? 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:35.059 Do you think you can add to it 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:35.740 in some way? 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:38.319 He paid for your sins. 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:39.980 Why are you still trying to pay for them? 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:42.079 He atoned for your sins. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.819 Why are you still trying to atone for them? 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:45.039 It is finished. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.259 Attempting to add anything 00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:48.579 to what Jesus has done 00:27:48.579 --> 00:27:50.740 simply subtracts from it. 00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:52.380 And so can I say 00:27:52.380 --> 00:27:54.720 with sensitivity, 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:56.839 blunt sensitivity, 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:00.599 how dare you hate 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:01.980 and loathe yourself 00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:03.200 if you are a Christian? 00:28:05.460 --> 00:28:06.640 Don't you understand 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.900 what Jesus has done for you? 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:12.420 Don't you understand 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:14.500 the approval he has on your life? 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:18.200 The other person 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:19.259 is the self-prover. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:22.440 You are the other end of the spectrum. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.779 You feel so much better about yourself. 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:25.500 You're often proud. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:26.759 You're often a self-made person. 00:28:27.299 --> 00:28:28.720 You've had a bit of success in life 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:29.940 and you think it means something. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:32.079 You've got money, 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:32.599 you've got success, 00:28:32.859 --> 00:28:33.460 you've got possessions, 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:35.259 you've got a great middle-class lifestyle, 00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:37.579 you obey the laws of the land, 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:38.140 you've got family, 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:38.720 you've got career. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.319 in order to feel secure 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:42.019 and significant, 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:44.480 you feel like that 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.880 and you're just trying 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:47.339 to add to Jesus' work 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:48.140 to make yourself feel 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:49.100 a little bit more secure 00:28:49.100 --> 00:28:49.759 and accessible. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:52.319 You think that what you've done in life 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:53.700 contributes something. 00:28:55.779 --> 00:28:56.799 And the message of Christianity 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.380 is that we're all sinners 00:28:58.380 --> 00:28:59.400 saved by grace 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:00.640 if you trust 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.360 in the finished work of Jesus. 00:29:03.280 --> 00:29:03.680 We, 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:05.000 every single one of us, 00:29:05.320 --> 00:29:06.560 are more evil 00:29:06.560 --> 00:29:09.200 than we ever dare to believe 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.440 and we are more loved 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:12.780 than we ever dared 00:29:12.780 --> 00:29:13.960 to hope or imagine. 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:17.259 The person who tries 00:29:17.259 --> 00:29:18.180 to prove themselves 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:19.140 doesn't understand 00:29:19.140 --> 00:29:20.500 that they can never, 00:29:20.980 --> 00:29:24.620 never can prove themselves 00:29:24.620 --> 00:29:27.620 because they are more evil 00:29:27.620 --> 00:29:28.780 than they ever imagined. 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:30.460 And conversely, 00:29:30.560 --> 00:29:31.940 the person constantly 00:29:31.940 --> 00:29:32.840 trying to atone 00:29:32.840 --> 00:29:33.460 for their flaws 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:34.740 by beating themselves up 00:29:34.740 --> 00:29:36.080 never will 00:29:36.080 --> 00:29:37.900 because they're already loved 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:39.420 and affirmed more 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:41.060 than their wildest dreams. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:43.580 God humbles one person 00:29:43.580 --> 00:29:45.400 and God affirms the other. 00:29:45.860 --> 00:29:47.820 It is finished on the cross. 00:29:49.220 --> 00:29:50.860 Jesus' death on the cross 00:29:50.860 --> 00:29:52.660 doesn't make a contribution 00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:53.740 to your salvation. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.240 It is your salvation. 00:29:56.580 --> 00:29:58.280 All of our overwork, 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.160 all of our anxiety, 00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:02.039 our constant striving, 00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:04.019 our lack of gratitude 00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:05.139 and rejoicing 00:30:05.139 --> 00:30:07.920 is because we don't know 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:09.680 that it is finished. 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:16.160 The amazing truth of Easter 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:17.660 is summarised succinctly 00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:19.059 by another New Testament ad. 00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:20.259 Let me just paraphrase that. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:21.559 Full acceptance, 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:22.160 grab it, 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:23.180 push it right down 00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:24.359 in the depths of your heart. 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:26.819 Jesus' wonderful news 00:30:26.819 --> 00:30:28.059 for people like us 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:30.119 who know that we cannot 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:32.879 measure up to the demands 00:30:32.879 --> 00:30:34.319 of our own consciences, 00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:36.159 let alone the demands 00:30:36.159 --> 00:30:37.119 of our own holiness. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:38.179 We don't even live 00:30:38.179 --> 00:30:39.119 by our own standards, 00:30:39.199 --> 00:30:40.519 let alone by anyone else's standards. 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:45.059 So I call on you 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:46.240 on this Good Friday 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:47.619 to see the good news. 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:51.720 It is finished in Jesus. 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:55.579 See your need being met in him 00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:57.220 and believe 00:30:57.220 --> 00:31:00.579 and strive no more. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.259 For God so loved the world 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:04.660 that he gave his only son 00:31:04.660 --> 00:31:07.200 that whoever believes in him 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:09.339 will not perish 00:31:09.339 --> 00:31:11.740 but have eternal life. 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:14.180 We don'tind sacred love certifications 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:15.940 get through that power 00:31:15.940 --> 00:31:27.319 of ben Zeck 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:28.539 will not perish 00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:29.180 but Corinthians 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:29.599 will not Beweg 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:29.980 for all of the everyday 00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:32.059 He will not be here 00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:32.620 Jesus for the whole spoiled 00:31:32.620 --> 00:31:35.539 rem 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:37.039 He will not be here 00:31:38.299 --> 00:31:39.579 the agora 00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:40.480 when he comes from 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.299 to the Didn't